‘Angry Birds 2’ soars
Red and pals fly high with humor, message
Does it seem appropriate, given the current divided emotional state of the nation, that we have a cartoon for kids about one perpetually angry bird and a destructive, city-wrecking, revenge-seeking eagle?
“The Angry Birds Movie 2” certainly isn’t aiming for any kind of political relevance. It’s a smart-silly sequel to the 2016 original — which was inspired by a videogame — in which flightless bird Red (Jason Sudeikis) channeled his anger to save Bird Island and its unhatched children from their Pig Island foes, the green pigs led by their King Leonard (Bill Hader).
As “2” begins, Red relishes his new status as a Hero with a capital H. No longer just “Eyebrows,” the lonely, solitary bird of his youth, he’s loved!
Trouble comes when destructive ice bombs come hurtling down, wrecking their respective island paradises. (This movie, it must be said, has nothing to say about climate change!) This assault is from Eagle Island, where belligerent Zeta (Leslie Jones in the comedy’s most arrestingly demented turn) plans to destroy Pig and Bird islands.
Red determines that he, and he alone, can save their world, ignoring the female, scientific brilliance of Silver bird (Rachel Bloom, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”).
Like its predecessor, “Birds 2” flies with sight gags, elaborate mechanics in Zeta’s war-mongering fortress and a movie-long subplot involving a trio of hatchlings who fly into space to protect their eggs and flirt with but are never really in danger.
By film’s finish, Red has come to see that no man is an island, that cooperation is better than independence — and no, while this may sound like a Communist manifesto with a bird too appropriately called Red, it’s really about the dream that if we only would sit down and act sanely, we can really get along.
“Birds 2” is preceded by a short cartoon, “Hair Love,” whose story is told in pantomime. Disarming and immediately engaging in its matter of fact look at what initially seems like a minor issue, it actually presents a tragic family situation.
“Hair Love” begins as a little African American girl wants to style her hair and needs help. She asks dad, who learns — via a video guide on the web — to do it right. A final scene speaks volumes about family, parental attention, a child’s innocence — all without a word being spoken.